Sunday, March 30, 2008

In the throes of a laughing fit

The unmissable Radio 4 cringing moment

Hilarious and cringeworthy was BBC Radio 4's Charlotte Green's giggling fit on the Today programme. Seconds after she played a clip of the oldest recording of a human voice (which was quite ridiculous indeed), poor Charlotte Green must have wanted the ground to open up and swallow her when she started a laughing fit as she moved on to report the death of award-winning screenwriter Abby Mann. A nation shuddered with embarrassment. And sympathy. After all, newsreaders can be human too! Hear the clip:

Even more laughable were today's claim from Home Secretary Jaqui Smith. She dismissed claims from a fellow minister that the New Labour government is "too often silent on the daily realities facing hard-working families". "We're not out of touch", Smith protested. We'll leave any judgement to our readers.